family as the other, 2 Cor. iv. 4. with this difference, that as long as they are there, he is never quite sure of them, that as sons they shall abide in his house for ever. The elder brother of the family of heaven, the Lord of his Father's house, has his lower house in this same world, where Satan has his upper one; and he has his Father's commission to fill it out of Satan's family, those of them in his upper house. And for this cause he sends out his ambassadors, ministers, to call in the name of the Lord to them, as in the text, Come out from among them, &c. Forget thine own people, and thy Father's house,' Psal. xlv. 10. They must be in earnest with that part of the family, and give them no rest, because there is yet hope, Luke xiv. 23. and he has a Spirit that can draw them out effectually, that are farthest in, in the house.

3. Ye will not be carried away from among them against your will. Ye must come away voluntarily, setting down your own feet to make your escape, Psal. cx. 3. There is a generation that makes the doctrine of man's impotency too good a pillow for their sloth: they say they can do nothing, and they will do nothing. But if ye were willing to come away, ye would do something for that end; ye would stretch out the withered hand, ye would take the help of Christ's grace offered unto you, ye would take no rest till ye were got away.

you.

4. Ye need not expect to get the good-will of your father, nor of the family, to the parting. The call is directed to you, without noticing of them; for it is known, they will never let you go as long as they can hinder Therefore you must be resolute and peremptory, over the belly of all opposition, to come away from among them, Mat. xi. 12. No sooner does one begin to stir out from among them, but he will raise the hue and cry after him. Hell's flatterings and threatenings are all plied to get them back again, and to lay aside their purpose. But ye must stop you ears to them all, and look not behind you, as Lot's wife did, Gen. xix. 17.

5. Ye must come out from among them, for good and all. Be ye separate. Come away wholly, come away for ever, Psal. xlv. 10. Come away, with a sincere purpose never to go back among them, Psal. lxxx. 18. Leave not your heart behind you. Remember Lot's wife, who was turned into a pillar of salt, for the rueful look she gave to what she had feft in Sodom. They that come not away thus freely sepa

rating from them, they will not go far away, they will not go off the devil's ground: and they will go back again, if the communion were over.

6. Lastly, Take up nothing from among them, to bring along with you: Touch not the unclean thing. There are many who meaning to come out from among them, secure themselves in the devil's snare, and shut the door of the house of heaven on themselves, by the preparation they make for the journey.

(1.) They think they will need something in God's house for their hearts to feed upon. They think Christ's blood will do well enough for their consciences; but to get something to stop the mouths of their hungry hearts, that must have something to feed upon, they bring along with them some of the provision of the house they came from. [1.] Some of the dust they were wont to eat with the serpent: some lust or other, which they have sucked much sap and sweetness out of, and they know not how to live without it, more than Herod without his Herodias, or Judas without the bag, &c. But remember, if ye touch that unclean thing, God will not receive you. Leave it then behind you to the devil from whence it came; it is his proper food, Isa. lxv. ult. all the pleasure he has lies in such things. Say ye, I have behaved and quieted myself as a child, that is weaned of his mother : my soul is even as a weaned child,' Psal. cxxxi. 2. [2.] Some of the husks they were wont to eat with the swine, Luke xv. 16; the dry, sapless, foisonless world, that Satan used to dress up to them, as best suited their palate, in the pleasures, vanities, profits, and pomp of it. But touch not that unclean thing, Cant. iv. 8; and drop that unclean bulky vanity, and come away. There is no need of any such provision in our heavenly Father's house, that is abundantly provided with the product of the better country, Isa. lv. 2. (2.) They think they will need something on them, suitable to the new house they are coming to, that they come not in among them like hand-beggars. And so they take up the garb of the house they come from, end bring it with them, even the filthy unclean garment of their own righteousness, the loathsome rags of the pretended good that is in them, or about them, to commend them to Christ. But O drop the nasty garment, and touch not that unclean thing, Isa. Ixiv. 6.

Come away naked and bare, and receive the

blessing in the elder brother's clothes, or ye cannot have it. Seek nothing to commend you to him, but your utter misery, vileness and want of all things. The more you bring with you to commend you to him, the more securely ye shut his door on you.

II. The next head is to shew what this coming out from among them is. It is no local motion, but a spiritual motion of the soul; and I give it you briefly in three steps.

1. A hearty and unfeigned willingness to leave them, and to come out from among them. This is the first step. And O what a deal of work is there, ere the sinner can be brought this length! No less than the power of grace is able to bring the soul to this, Psal. cx. 3. Thy people shall be willing in the day of thy power.' It is a dead grip the sinner takes of his father's house, and he will shift hither and thither ere he let go the grip. It is as death to him to think of parting with his dear lusts, that are to him as a right hand or eye, which neither promises nor threatnings can make him consent to part with, till grace loose the heart. Whosoever then has got the length of this, they have made the first step, which is the most difficult one.

2. An actual renouncing and giving up with that house, and all that belongs to it. The soul being willing to leave it, actually gives up with it, Job xxxiv. 32; renounces its natural relation to that society, their work, their way; resolving, come what will come, to stay no longer there among them, it bids an eternal farewell to it. Though a Red Sea appear before such persons, which they know not how they will get through, they are peremptory they will not return to the spiritual Egypt, the house of their soul's bondage. This the second step.

3. Lastly, A sincere acceptance of Jesus Christ by faith, in the marriage-covenant held forth in the gospel; whereby they take him for all, and instead of all, and give themselves to him, to be his only, wholly, and for ever, Cant. ii. 16. There is no interpendent state betwixt the two families, but the soul lifting the one foot, as it were sets down the other. It lets go the hold of its lusts and idols, by embracing of Jesus Christ, not only for a rest to the conscience, but a rest to the heart; and embracing Christ as the one pearl of great price, lets go all that it has. Thus the soul is united to Jesus Christ, and is come out from among them, as one that is

married is from that moment no more of her father's house, but her husband's, So the soul, though in the midst of the world lying in wickedness, is no more of that society, but come out from among them, John xv. 19.

Now, the souls thus joined to Christ, are by him introduced to his Father's house and presence, and by him adopted as his children, as Jacob did the two sons of Joseph for his sake.

I shall not here stand to confirm the doctrine, since it is very plain from the text, and I confirmed the certainty of adoption into God's family, to those that comply with the gospel-call, the last day; but shall proceed to the applica tion; which I make in the words of the text.

Wherefore, O sinners, Come forth from among them, and be ye separate,' &c. It is the Lord's call to you this day to come away freely and cleanly out of the devil's family, and the Lord will take you in. Hearken unto this,

1. Ye that have lived all your days at ease in Satan's family, never knew ye were there, and were never troubled how to get out of it. Open your eyes, and know your natural state; see yourselves children of the devil, and heirs of wrath, at length; and sleep no longer the sleep of death, but look about you; see your danger, and come out from among them, and be ye separate to-day.

2. Ye that sometimes have had an awakening, and seen yourselves undone, but have fallen asleep again, and look on that former fright as a dream. Know ye that it was most real, and represented your case to you as indeed it was, and yet is: and Satan it is, who to keep you still among them, deluded you to think, that God's armies advancing against you were but the shadow of the mountains. Wherefore bestir yourselves, and come out from among them.

3. Ye apostates and backsliders, that sometimes seemed to make considerable advances in coming out, but now have gone back in among them, and fallen afresh to the entertainment, the work and manners of the house. Our Lord gives you a new call to come out from among them, and set to the way again, Jer. iii. 22.

4. Ye that are halting, and in a doubt what to do, whether to come out from among them or no. Conscience is pressing you forward, and corruption drawing you back. Something tells you, To-day if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts.' Something else is saying, It is too soon, there will VOL. II. Hh

be time enough after this. Know this last is the language ye hear among them that seek the ruin of your souls. Take no heed to what they say, but resolutely come out from among them.

5. Ye that have been often aiming at coming, but never yet have come away freely and cleanly. Make a fair and cleanly separation now, Touch not the unclean thing. Give up with your natural father's house, and have no more to do with any thing that belongs to it. Let no beloved lust be spared. Leave not a hoof behind you, as being minded never

to return.

6. Lastly, All that desire for Heaven or the favour of God, in time or eternity, come out from among them. And be still coming farther and farther from them, and nearer to Jesus Christ. I offer the following motives.

Mot. 1. It is a most miserable case to be among them, the true sight whereof may fright one out of their society. Never could one that was in a den of lions, or beset with ser pents, or enclosed with venomous creatures, be more desirous to be from among them, than God's elect to be out of the world lying in wickedness, out of the devil's family, when once the Spirit of the Lord has opened their eyes to see clearly where they are, Luke xv. 17, 18. For,

1. There is not, and never will be, any peace with heaven among them. This is the apostle's argument in the text, ver. 14.-17. Sooner shall light and darkness agree, than the two families of heaven and hell. God has declared they are a society with whom he will have war for ever, Isa. lvii. ult. Some of the devil's family may be roaring unto God's felt enmity against them, while others have a profound peace; but the one as well as the other stand for marks to the ar rows of God's justice, Deut xxix. 19, 20. As long as thou art among them, thou art an enemy to God, and God is an enemy to thee, Rom. viii. 7. Luke xix. 27. Wilt thou be able to endure this? No; Come out from among them, and be ye separate, &c.

2. There is not, and never will be, any thing pure or clean among them. Touch not the unclean thing, i. e. Meddle not with any thing that belongs to them. For they, and all that is theirs, are unclean and loathsome in the sight of God, Tit. i. 15. As long as thou art among them, thy whole soul in all its faculties is utterly defiled, and so are all thy works,